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NDF wants peace talks before 2010 polls
By Loui Galicia, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau | 11/19/2009 5:22 PM
Published on ABS-CBN News Online Beta (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com)
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/print/78965
19 November 2009
Sen. Maria Ana Consuelo Jamby Madrigal and the National Democratic
Front on Wednesday urged the Philippine government to restart peace
talks with communist rebels in the country before the May 2010 elections.
Madrigal and members of the NDF negotiating panel headed by chairman
Luis Jalandoni signed a statement urging the government to undertake
steps to resume peace talks with the communist movement. The NDF is the
political arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines, which has been
waging a Maoist rebellion in the Southeast Asian nation for the past 40
years.
Both sides underlined the urgency of starting peace negotiations on
social and economic reforms to address the roots of the 40-year-old
armed conflict and find practical solutions to the problems of
widespread poverty and hunger. "The GRP-NDFP peace talks must also
address the worsening human rights situation in the country,
characterized by gross and systematic human rights violations by the
regime's military, police and paramilitary forces," the statement read.
The statement was signed by Madrigal, Jalandoni and NDFP chief political
consultant Jose Maria Sison. Also present during the signing were NDF
panelists Fidel Agcaoili, Julieta de Lima and Coni Ledesma.
Madrigal, chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Peace, Unification and
Reconciliation, met with the NDF panel in Utrecht, The Netherlands on
November 16-17. In an interview, she said she found the NDF panel ready
and willing to resume peace talks.
"The NDF is willing to talk. I doubt if the GRP side has the goodwill,
the desire to start peace negotiations. As a Filipino, I will push my
government to restart the talks because every day that it is delayed
more people die. I hope that there will be peace and not wait for the
elections," she said.
She said the resumption of peace negotiations could be President
Arroyo's legacy before she steps down in 2010. "Even if there is no
signing, it should start before the end of her term," she said.
Sison said it is up to the Philippine government to make the move
towards a resumption of the peace negotiation.
Laging handa ang NDF na makipagusap muli ng formal sa GRP or Manila
government. Ang may pananagutan sa mahabang panahon na walang pag-uusap
eh GRP. Sila ang gumawa ng pagsuspinde?sila ang mailap. Di lang mailap,
sila yung gumagawa ng pambabara, Sison said.
Both sides also opposed the appointment of National Security Adviser
Norberto Gonzales as secretary of national defense, whom they said may
sabotage the talks. They noted that Gonzales is one of the chief
implementors of Oplan Bantay Laya, a government operation bent on
killing and persecuting members of legal organizations such as Bayan
Muna and Anakpawis.
Madrigal said Gonzales is a militarist who believes in arms. On the
other hand, Sison said human rights violations could only worsen under
Gonzales and may even lead to the failure of elections.
Gagawa ng milagro laban sa sovereign will ng masang Pilipino. May mga
nagsasabi na baka ito signo ng pagpapanatilii ni GMA sa kapangyarihan sa
pamamagitan ng failure of elections at pagpanimula o paggamit sa AFP sa
ilalim nitong Norberto Gonzales, Sison said.
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